You will need to apologize for my lack of medical lingo, but I'm looking to hear some other accounts of the injury I sustained.

On July 24th I injured myself playing ball hockey. I stepped on the back of another player's heel and rolled my foot over. It looked like a very innocent play, but I was in an incredible amount of paing following my fall. I played the rest of the game on it (not smart). After removing my shoe I noticed an incredible amount of swelling and went straight to the emergency room since I couldn't put any weight on it at all.

After X-rays and consulting the doctor they concluded that I had broken my fifth metatarsal. The break was center shaft of the bone and looked pretty clean (but still a very violent break). I was initially told no weight baring until my follow up, and that we should count on something in the realm of 6 weeks recovery time. I have been back to the doctor on two more occassions for follow up X-rays, and to date I'm still not baring any weight or seeing any real progress. My last set of X-rays revealed that the bones were still not in union and that I had to stay off my feet for at least 2-3 more weeks. The doctor seemed to think that this might end up being about 3 months by the time everything is said and done.

At this point I'm in an air cast and hopping around on crutches and getting VERY sick of it. My last appointment was very disheartening because I really felt like I had been making great progress. There was no pain anymore, the swelling was starting to go down and I figured I was on the fast-track to recovery. Hockey season starts up here in less than a month, and I'm targetting an early October return to full activities (with doctor approval of course).

I've heard absolute horror stories about Jones Fracture injuries, but I rarely hear anything about breaks to the middle of the bone. I'm starting to get really frustrated about my lack of mobility and my slow progress, anyone have similar stories so I can gain some perspective on what to expect going forward?

I have picked the doctors brain about the possibilities of surgery and he really doesn't feel that's a step that needs to be taken. In fact, with all of the doctors I have seen so far, the mention of surgery is never even really being considered as a possiblity.

I guess it's something I find somewhat confusing since the break was quite violent.

That is a common fracture and ususally treated without surgery when possible.
Yours seems to be taking a little longer than "usual" but remember every fracture is different and everyone heals differently. A stress fracture in this area can take 6-12 weeks, again depending on a person's "healing rate".

Surgery is not without its pitfalls. If you've ever seen a wound that would not heal or a surgical site that gets infected, you would be counting your blessing every day for not needing surgery.

Sick of it? Frustrated? Not to seem harsh to you be read about some of the ankle and calcaneus threads and maybe you will be a bit happier.

In a few weeks, you will probably be running around with no thoughts of your broken bone and most likely no future problems with it.

Best of luck to you.

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pink1987 (08-31-2011)

Thanks for that, nice to hear that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm glad it's a relatively tame injury and that I'm not in the same boat as some of the guys with calc/ankle breaks.....those don't sound too pleasant at all. It's more just a mindset thing than anything else. Having played sports my entire life I've never really sustained an injury that's kept me on the shelf for any extended period of time before.

The docs I've been talking to seem to think that I don't have a need for any real formal physio of any kind and that walking alone should be sufficient to restrengthen. Are they spot on with this assessment, or should I be considering some other physio methods?

I had a follow up with my doctor on Thursday and was told that I could start weight bearing since the bone has finally reached a bit of union.

I've since gone back to work (retail) where I have to spend quite a bit of time on my feet in the air cast. I was told that the more weight bearing I can do, the faster my healing time is going to be, but I still have some concerns. After my first full day at work my foot is pretty sore (not around the injured area, just the foot in general). Do I need to worry about stunting my recovery by being on my feet, or is this all part of the healing process? I do have a little bruising around the injured area from my day on my feet.